Object: Fluted ring with garment hook S2012.9.2682

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Warring States period, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 475-221 BCE

Object Date: 475-221 BCE

Medium: Iron with gold and silver inlay, and jade (nephrite) disk

Dimension(s): H x W x D (overall): 2.3 x 25.9 x 4.1 cm (7/8 x 10 3/16 x 1 5/8 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S2012.9.2682

: 凹槽紋環金属帶鉤
東周戰國時期（公元前475-221年）
中國
鐵錯金銀；玉環
高2.3、寬25.9、厚4.1釐米
史密森博物學院亞瑟·M·賽克勒美術館保羅·辛格中國藝術收藏品；亞瑟·M·賽克勒基金會，保羅·辛格，AMS基金會，及亞瑟·M·賽克勒子女聯合贈送
器物編號：S2012.9.2682

Provenance: ?-1997
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997), method of acquisition unknown [1]

1997-1999
In the custody of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, upon death of Paul Singer and establishment of a loan agreement [2]

From 1999
The National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, by gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler [3]

Notes:

[1] The collection of Chinese art and antiquities assembled by Dr. Paul Singer over time was purchased by him on behalf of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, Jillian Sackler, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities and later was transferred to the children of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler.

[2] The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art came into the custody of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, upon Paul Singer’s death in January 1997. See loan agreement between the Executors of the Singer Estate and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 1997, copy in collection accession files. In March 2023, the museum's legal name changed to National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution.

[3] The entirety of the Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art formally accessioned in 2012. See the Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art gift agreement, March 1999, copy in collection accession files. The work is part of the Museum’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection.

Research updated on June 12, 2024.

Previous owner(s): Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997)

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Hao Sheng, research assistant, October 30, 2002) Illustrated in Max Loehr's 1965 catalog, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), no. 85b.
2. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 22, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.
3. (Jeffrey Smith per Matthew Clarke, August 2, 2022) Medium changed from "Metal" to "Iron with gold and silver inlay, and jade (nephrite) disk."
4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 22, 2023) Title changed from "Garment hook" to "Fluted ring with garment hook"; Date changed from "4th century BCE" to "475-221 BCE"; added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang; added Unpublished Research by Jenny F. So.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 645) for S2012.9.2682 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Jenny F. So
Garment Hook
Eastern Zhou 周 dynasty, Warring States period, 4th century BCE
Cast iron inlaid with gold and silver
Length 17.4 cm (6 13/16 in)
While it is trimmer in silhouette than others in the collection, this garment hook displays a very similar geometric design on its convex three faceted top. Heavy incrustation covers the hook and a third of the buckle below it. Thick incrustation has also firmly secured to the hook a small jade ring decorated with fine diagonal fluting. The jade ring may have been attached originally to a sword or some other implement. The find of similar rings with gold attachment pieces lying near swords in a Warring States tomb seems to support this possibility. [1]
Published: Emma Cadwalader Bunker, The Art of Eastern Chou, 772--221 B.C.: A Loan Exhibition (New York: Chinese Art Society of America, 1962), no. 5; Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), no. 85b.
[1] Guangdong sheng bowuguan 廣東省博物館 and Zhaoqing shi wenhuaju fajue xiaozu 肇慶市文化局發掘小組, "Guangdong Zhaoqing shi Beiling Songshan gumu fajue jianbao 廣東肇慶市北嶺松山古墓發掘簡報," Wenwu 文物 1974.11, pp.76--77, figs. 23, 27; see also Wang Renxiang 王仁湘, "Gudai daigou yongtu kaoshi 古代帶鈎用途考實," Wenwu 文物 1982.10, p. 79.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Fluted ring with garment hook

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